Initial Reflections on D.C. trip
Taking a brief hiatus from posting the last 2 days, Stlo7 and I traveled to Washington DC to attend a single-payer rally and lobby our senators. Stlo7 will have some video up later this week, but in the meantime, a brief rundown of what turned into very long, hot day.
Thursday, 12:30 am, bus leaves from Suburban Plaza, arriving 7 am at Union Station in D.C. We carried about 25 people from Rochester and Bath and there were at least 10 more who drove down from Rochester to meet us there. All in all about 40 people from Rochester took time out of their lives to go to Washington.
At 10:00 a group of 20 -25 people met with two of Senator Gillibrand’s staffers including Leg Assistant Shari Swaaley. At the same time that we were lobbying our Senators from New York, others were lobbying their Senators from all over the country.
Recording of the Gillibrand session was not allowed. Wait for a more detailed post but we had our moment when we tried to pin down exactly what Senator Gillibrand means when she says “like Medicare for all.” Guess what ? It is exactly “like” Medicare, but “different.” Well, then it isn’t “like” Medicare, is it? More on this later. All in all, a not so successful meeting - the group sensed some waffling and lack of definition. Were any points made and taken back to the Senator? Don’t know. We didn’t’ see any of the staffers taking notes.
After that meeting we walked the halls of Congress - we stopped in Lindsay Graham’s office and thanked him for Voting for Judge Sotomayor, Stopped into John Kerry’s office - and expressed our views on Health Care. Heck, even stopped in Max Baucus’ office and did the same thing. Then back to the rally -
1:00 pm, rally in the park. Happy Birthday to Medicare - 44yrs old. Lots of great speakers lots of signs.
My favorite sign, carried by a girl wearing a hospital gown, open in the back, and a plastic butt:
“Our current health care system is like a hospital gown-chances are you’re not covered.”
I distributed leaflets (which can be viewed here) and stumbled across a family from England who happened to be in town for the day. They had no idea what we were rallying for. Wait until we post the video conversation.
3:00 pm-headed to Senator Schumer’s office for a meeting with his Legislative Assistant, Meghan D. Taira. This one was a class act. She knew her stuff and was able to answer questions succinctly and comprehensively. Again, no recording allowed, again hastily written notes. Bottom line- Schumer believes that single payer is the way to go. Two points stressed, in order for him to vote in favor:
- Timing- has to be available on day #1
- Biggness- everybody covered along with ability to leverage big pharma for competitive pricing of drugs.
The group collectively asked Senator Schumer to show leadership if that is what he believes. More on this meeting later as well.
That was it - Folks got back on the bus and headed back - some stayed over to attend some evening events, reviewed notes to set up the next set of events. All of which made for an exhaustive, yet worthwhile, day.
So, did we make a difference? I don’t know, you tell me.
More throughout the week.
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